Ruled by the Indian National Congress, National Capital Territory of Delhi continued to witness serious human rights violations. According to the 2005 Annual Report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of the Government of India, Delhi had the third highest number of complaints cases against its police personnel with 6665 cases having been registered out of the all India total of 61,560 cases registered against the police personnel during 2005. That is, 12.3 cases were registered against per 100 police personnel.[1]

In most cases of arbitrary deprivation of the right to life or custodial killings occurred in 2005, the police managed to bend the law to shield the guilty colleagues. The accused police personnel were found to have either coerced the prosecution witnesses or taken the plea that the victims had committed suicide or died due to electrocution.

Arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and torture were rampant. Police often arrested and tortured innocent people to obtain bribes or to extort money. In a glaring example of police highhandedness, one Rajpal Singh was picked up from his Mehrauli residence on the night of 19 November 2005 by Sub-Inspector Praveen Vats and some of his colleagues and taken to the Bhati Mines post of Mehrauli in South Delhi. The victim had earlier complained against Sub-Inspector Praveen Vats for demanding Rs. 20,000. During the illegal detention, the victim was allegedly forced to consume liquor, got medically examined to prove that he was drunk, and beaten up. The victim had to be admitted to All-India Institute of Medical Sciences with bruises on his body and swollen legs.[2] In September 2005, the National Human Rights Commission ordered an investigation by its investigating team.[3]

Delhi had the highest crime rates against women and children in the country during 2005.[4] Delhi police personnel were themselves responsible for half-a-dozen cases of rape and molestation. At least four women were allegedly raped and two were molested by Delhi police personnel in 2005.

Juveniles were subjected to torture by the police. The condition of inmates of juvenile homes, street children, working children as well as school children remained serious. On 11 April 2005, a 7-year-old boy, Abhishek Dikshit of Municipal Corporation of Delhi Primary School, T block Mangolpuri in North-West Delhi was allegedly beaten to death by one of his teachers. Girl children were victims of sexual assault, including by policemen.

The armed opposition groups targeted innocent civilians and perpetrated a series of massacres in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. On 29 October 2005, 57 persons were killed and 153 injured in three bomb blasts planted at a crowded Delhi Transport Corporation bus and busy marketplaces at Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar just two days before the Hindu festival of Diwali.[5]

Prison conditions remained deplorable with problems of overcrowding and cases of food poisoning, violence among inmates and death under “mysterious circumstances”. Corruption amongst the Tihar jail staffs was rampant.

The Delhi Police personnel were responsible for arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and arbitrary deprivation of the right to life. The NHRC reported 5 deaths in police custody, 27 deaths in judicial custody, 1 death in the custody of the defence/ para military personnel and 9 encounter killings in Delhi during 2004-2005.[6] According to the 2005 Annual Report of the NCRB, Delhi had the third highest number of complaints cases against its police personnel. Surprisingly the NCRB failed to record any death in police custody in Delhi during 2005. Asian Centre for Human Rights documented death of at least three persons in police custody during 2005.

On 16 March 2005, Kishan Singh died in the custody of the police at Shahdara police station in East Delhi. Post-mortem examination revealed that the “cause of death is shock due to hemorrhage occurring as a cumulative effect of injures on the body caused by repeated assaults by hard objects upon the deceased”. In June 2005, a city court charged Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ramesh Chand, Constable Lumaan Ali and their accomplices, Shakti Tyagi and Kanwar Pal Singh under sections relating to common intention, wrongful confinement and murder.[7] However, the three sons of the deceased, who were the key prosecution witnesses turned hostile[8] and all the five accused were acquitted.[9]

On the night of 15 March 2005, Parmeshwar Dayal died at Shivanagar police post in North-West Delhi. The deceased was kept at the police post following his rescue by the police from Pune after he was kidnapped allegedly by his business rivals.[10] But the next morning, the police claimed that the deceased electrocuted himself inside the bathroom.[11] But the million dollar question was why should the kidnapped victim, who was to be reunited with his family in the next morning, commit suicide? The family members of the deceased accused the police of killing Parmeshwar Dayal in connivance with his business rivals.[12]

In yet another case, Sunil, son of Rajender Kumar of Barola village in Delhi, died under mysterious circumstances in the lock-up of Adarsh Nagar police station in North-West Delhi on 13 September 2005. The police claimed that the deceased hanged himself with his trousers. But the deceased's mother Santosh stated that two policemen identified as Suraj Mal and Parveen came to her house at about 8.30 p.m on 12 September 2005 saying Sunil had been sent to jail for four months. Earlier, the same policemen allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 for Sunil's release but the family members had no money to pay bribe.[13] On 15 September 2005, the Delhi High Court took suo motu cognizance of the Sunil's custodial death and issued notice to Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul in the matter.[14]

The police were also responsible for killings in alleged fake encounters. On 6 February 2005, Rashid alias Motu alias Babloo, a resident of Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh, was reportedly killed by the police in an alleged encounter at Usmanpur in North-East Delhi. Immediately after the killing, the police claimed that Rashid was involved in 20 cases of murder, robbery and dacoity, but even a fortnight after the ‘encounter' the police reportedly did not find a single FIR against him.[15]

There were consistent reports of arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and torture. Police often arrested and tortured innocent people to obtain bribes or to extort money from them. On 17 February 2005, Head Constable Pawan, constables Manoj, Surender, Malkeet and Pankaj of the Mayur Vihar phase-II police station in East Delhi district picked up a tea stall owner identified as Akhtar and detained him at the special staff office in Mayur Vihar phase-II. Akhtar was allegedly beaten up and subjected to electric shocks. He was later freed after allegedly paying bribes to the police personnel.[16]

On 30 August 2005, Raju and Titoo, residents of Palam Colony, were picked up by constables Sumer and Radhey Shyam from Dabri in southwest Delhi after they complained to the police about the ongoing illegal betting operations in the area. Medical tests of the victims conducted at the Deen Dayal Upadhaya Hospital reportedly confirmed torture and burn marks and physical injuries were found on their bodies.[17]

Others who were subjected to arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and torture at the hands of the Delhi police included Rajab Ali alias Raja, son of Mohammed Ejaz Khan, who was tortured after being picked up by the police from North-East Delhi's Bhajanpura police station on the night of 16 February 2005;[18] Ashish Kumar Aggarwal who was beaten up by a traffic constable identified as Vakil Ahmed for refusing to pay a bribe of Rs 500 on 20 February 2005,[19] Shamsher Singh, an NRI, who was beaten up by Central Industrial Security Force personnel at the Indira Gandhi International airport for not having a sticker to notify the date of journey on his passport on the night of 5 April 2005;[20] and Rajpal Singh who was picked up from his Mehrauli residence and beaten up after forcing him to consume wine by Sub-Inspector Praveen Vats and his colleagues in the Bhati Mines post of Mehrauli in South Delhi on the night of 19 November 2005.[21] In September 2005, NHRC ordered its investigation team to probe the alleged illegal arrest and torture of Rajpal Singh.[22]

Even women in advanced stage of pregnancy could not escape the police brutality. On the night of 23 February 2005, police constable identified as Anil reportedly beat up one Heera's wife who was seven-month pregnant at the roadside dwellings at Sonia Gandhi jhuggi-jhopri (slums) cluster at Rama Krishna Puram in South West Delhi. The victim had a miscarriage as a result of the beating and had to be admitted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences.[23]

In some cases, the courts intervened to deliver justice. On 9 October 2005, a single bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Mr. Justice R.S. Sodhi awarded a compensation of Rs 50,000 to one Akhtar Parvez who was brutally thrashed in the illegal custody of Bara Hindu Rao police station in North Delhi. The bench also ordered recovery of the compensation money from the guilty policemen and registration of an FIR against them.[24]

According to National Crime Records Bureau, Delhi had the highest crime rate of 27.6% against women during 2005. The NCRB recorded 351 cases of violence against women in the state, including 658 cases of rape, 762 cases of molestation, 1106 cases of abductions, 114 dowry deaths, 1324 cases of cruelty by husbands and relatives during 2005.[25]

Many Delhi police personnel were themselves responsible for rape and molestation. At least four women were allegedly raped and two were molested by Delhi police personnel in 2005.

The incidents of sexual violence by the police included rape of the wife of a painter in Malkaganj area of North Delhi by constable Kapil Mohan Sharma of Subzi Mandi police station for over 15 consecutive days from 31 December 2004 to 16 January 2005 on the promise of marrying her;[26] rape of a 25-year-old woman of Bhajanpura by a Sub-Inspector Jai Dev Bhardwaj in the Khajuri Khas area of North-West Delhi on 12 August 2005;[27] rape of a 22-year-old woman by constable Mahipal Singh in Nand Nagri area of North-East Delhi on 27 October 2005[28]; rape of a 35-year-old woman by constable Rajendra of 4th Delhi Armed Police at Nand Nagri area in North-East Delhi on 10 December 2005;[29] molestation of wife of Dharmendar of Raghubir Nagar in North-West Delhi by constable Kamlesh Kumar Meena posted at the Rajouri Garden police station on 5 May 2005;[30] and alleged molestation of an 18-year-old girl in a South Delhi market on 17 May 2005 by three men including two policemen.[31]

Women were also victims of cultural cruelties such as honour killings. In a case of honour killing, a businessman shot dead his 24-year-old daughter identified as Neeru at busy Rohini multiplex in North-West Delhi on 7 October 2005 after she married one Saranjeet Singh against the family's consent. Saranjeet Singh managed to escape with bullet injuries.[32]

Even in the National Capital, Dalits and tribal peoples remained vulnerable to the violations of their rights. On 13 January 2005, the safai karamcharis (employees meant for sanitation) of the D S Kothari Hostel of the Delhi University moved the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Commission against the alleged harassment by the warden, Mr S K Awasthi, who they say forcibly locked them in a room and made them sign blank papers. In their complaints, the safai karamcharies also alleged non-payment of dues and harassment.[33] In April 2005, a Delhi Police Inspector R.P Yadav allegedly made derogatory caste references to some Dalits when they tried to enter the Parliament House to pay homage to Dr BR Ambedkar on his birthday. Taking cognizance of the allegations, the Delhi Police ordered a vigilance inquiry into the matter.[34]

On 9 March 2005, tribal activists urged the Delhi government to appoint nodal officers to tackle what they called rising incidence of torture and exploitation of young women belonging to the tribal communities in the national capital.[35] There were an estimated 85,000 to 100,000 tribal women working in Delhi, most of them unmarried and less than 25 years in age. Delhi Police allegedly refuse help when victims belonging to the tribal communities seek their help or seek to register a complaint.[36]

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the crime rate against children was highest in Delhi with 6.5% against the national rate of 1.4% during 2005. The NCRB recorded 1,026 cases of crime against children, including 34 murder cases, 235 rape cases and 507 abduction cases during 2005.[37]

In 2005, many children were rescued during raids by the police and labour officials with the help of child rights NGOs. But the state government failed miserably on rehabilitation of the rescued child labourers. For example, on 21 November 2005, Labour Department, Delhi Police and a Mumbai based NGO, Pratham rescued 477 children from Seelampur, Bhajanpura and Gautampuri areas in east Delhi. The rescued children aged between 6-12 years were engaged at zari, embroidery and carpet units.[38] However, the Delhi Government failed to rehabilitate them. Immediately after their rescue, the children were housed at “Raen Basera”, a night shelter for beggars, at August Kranti Bhawan at Bhikaji Cama Palace. The children were later sent to 11 observation homes, which were primarily for juvenile delinquents.[39] On 2 December 2005, pursuant to a PIL filed by an NGO, Social Jurist highlighting the plight of the 477 rescued child labourers, the Delhi High Court issued notice to the Delhi Government to file an affidavit by 8 February 2006 explaining why was it not taking any steps to prosecute those employing child labourers in Delhi.[40]

The juvenile homes in Delhi continued to suffer from the lack of basic amenities such as food and clothes, neglect and mismanagement by the authorities. Many juveniles ran away from the juvenile homes. In January 2005, as many as 50 inmates ran away from the two juvenile homes situated at Alipur and Kingsway Camp.[41]

Torture and sexual abuse in the juvenile homes were reported to be rampant. But the victims received little care and medical attention from the authorities. On 8 September 2005, The Times of India reported that a boy was being sodomised by the older boys for a long time at a juvenile home in Delhi. The victim was taken to a doctor when he started bleeding from the anus but all he was given as medical treatment were paracetamol tablets. Later, following complaint by an NGO activist, the doctor was reportedly suspended.[42]

The inmates of the juvenile homes were also physically assaulted by the officials of the juvenile homes and policemen. On 26 May 2005, a Juvenile Justice Board Principal Magistrate Santosh Snehi Mann issued bailable warrants against a former Station House Officer (SHO) of a North Delhi police station, three guards and some officials of the juvenile observation home in Majnu Ka Teela on charges of “brutally torturing” four boys after some other inmates escaped from the juvenile home on 13 April 2005. The victims alleged that they had been beaten with iron rods and kicked after being made to lie on the floor by the guards and Timarpur SHO jumped upon their chests.[43]

The street children faced the wrath of the lawless police. On 18 April 2005, two policemen from Najafgarh police station in west Delhi picked up a minor boy while he was eating in a roadside eatery in the name of questioning him about some theft, although nothing was recovered from the boy. The boy was beaten up on his head and back with an iron pipe as a result of which he suffered multiple injuries. On 5 May 2005, Juvenile Justice Board Principal Magistrate Santosh Snehi Mann ordered the SHO of Najafgarh Police Station to produce the photographs of all the policemen posted there in order to help the victim to identify the two accused policemen.[44] The SHO of Najafgarh police station Shri Kailash Chandra allegedly tried to influence the victim through threat and inducements.[45]

The total number of pending juvenile cases stood at 3,050 as of August 2005. But Delhi had only one Juvenile Justice Board at Kingsway Camp, North Delhi at the end of 2005.[46]

Even the condition of this only Juvenile Board was far from satisfactory. There was reportedly just one lock-up in the Complex where the older boys were kept while the younger inmates had to sit almost the whole day inside the locked and ill-ventilated police van meant for their transportation. There was also no provision for either water or toilet and they had to take turns for relieving.[47]

Children suffered torture at the hands of the Delhi Police. Some of the cases documented by the Asian Centre for Human Rights during 2005 demonstrate the intensity of ill-treatments meted out to the children by the police personnel. On 16 October 2005, two boys identified as Sarfaraz (17) and Rizwan (16) were brutally assaulted by the police at a picket in Nand Nagri in North East Delhi for not stopping their motorcycle despite signaling them to stop. The boys had to be hospitalised in serious conditions.[48]

On 22 October 2005, 15-year-old Asadul, a henna artist, was severely thrashed by a constable identified as Jogender at the busy streets of Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place on the festive day of Karva Chauth. The boy had to be rushed to the hospital.[49]

On 2 December 2005, two constables identified as Ranbir Singh and Chetan Kumar were suspended after they beat up two boys identified as Irfan and Munez near Mother Dairy in Pandav Nagar on the previous night. The boys were reportedly beaten up when they refused to pay bribe to the policemen after they were caught driving a motorcycle without a license.[50]

Several minor girls became victims of sexual assault during 2005. On the night of 13 February 2005, Om Prakash Sharma, acting Principal of Government Middle School at Raghubir Nagar, Ved Prakash Sharma, Vice-Principal of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in West Patel Nagar and businessmen Jagdish allegedly gang-raped a 16-year-old girl at a guest house at Samaipur Badli in North-West Delhi. The victim had been taking private tuition from Om Prakash Sharma for the Class X Board examinations.[51]

The law enforcement personnel also sexually assaulted minor girls. On 14 October 2005, a police constable identified as Virender allegedly attempted to rape a 13-year-old girl in Dwarka in South-West Delhi. The victim's family alleged that the local police initially refused to register a case against the accused and forced the victim's family to enter into a compromise.[52] On 25 December 2005, another police constable identified as Bijender, posted with General Railway Police at Sarai Rohilla Railway Station, Delhi was arrested for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on the night of 21 December 2005 in Nangloi area in West Delhi. A medical examination of the victim at Bara Hindu Rao Hospital reportedly confirmed rape.[53]

The showpiece of India's prisons, Tihar Jail was overwhelmingly overcrowded and ill-managed. According to the National Human Rights Commission's prison statistics, the jails of Delhi had 12,610 prisoners against the total capacity of 5,050 as of 31 December 2004. Of them, 10,087 prisoners i.e. about 80% were under-trials. The overcrowding was 149.7%[54] In July 2005, the Delhi government approved Rs 168 crore for construction of 6 new jails in East Delhi with a capacity of 3,600 prisoners.[55]

The NHRC reported 27 cases of deaths in judicial custody in Delhi during 2004-2005.[56] Many of them died under “mysterious circumstances” in Tihar jail. They included Chander Mohan, a convict, who died in the first week of April 2005 and medical examination done at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital reportedly found several marks of injuries on the victim's body;[57] Raju, an undertrial, who allegedly committed suicide on 21 April 2005,[58] and Shabbir alias Kalia, an undertrial, who died on 29 April 2005 under mysterious circumstances.[59]

Taking of bribes by the jail officials was rampant in Delhi. Jail staffs often compromised security for bribes. A documentary footage taken by a news channel in an sting operation caught seven officials of the Tihar Jails namely- senior medical officer A K Bachawat, Deputy Superintendents R D Bohed and Ashwini Kumari, Assistant Deputy Superintendents Vinod Kashyap, Dayaram, Raj Kumar and Warden Digambar taking bribes in exchange for information about prisoners and to allow visitors to send fruits and other items to them. On 4 May 2005, all the seven officials were suspended and charged with corruption.[60] The annual appraisal report of the Tihar Jails reportedly revealed that the jail staff recovered about 57 gm of charas, 5 kg of tobacco, 300 beedis, 14 cigarettes, 89 surgical blades and razors, gold ornaments, a cellphone, charger, SIM card and Indian and foreign currency, among others, during searches conducted at the entry gates and inside the jails in 2004.[61] A large number of prisoners were drug users.[62]

Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Delhi had 23 cases.[63] In February 2005, the Review Committee on POTA headed by Justice Usha Mehra, in the first case of its kind in Delhi, directed that the case against Rajesh Bhai Prajapati, a resident of Mumbai be withdrawn in the absence of any evidence against him. He approached the Review Committee with a complaint expressing grievance about application of POTA in his case. He was arrested on 18 January 2002 from Mumbai on alleged charges of delivering hawala money to certain individuals associated with the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba for terrorist activities in Delhi on the Republic Day. He was produced in Patiala House Courts on 20 January 2005 and charges against him were framed on 30 April 2002. He had undergone 2 years in judicial custody.[64]

In late September 2005, the POTA Court at Patiala House reportedly rejected the Delhi government's plea against the POTA Review committee's decision to release Ibotombi Sapan, a Manipuri student arrested under section 3(4) of the Act by the Delhi police on 15 March 2005. Earlier on 11 May 2005, the POTA Review Committee chaired by Justice Usha Mehra had found no prima facie case against Sapan to prove that he was harbouring a terrorist. The Delhi police had arrested Sapan, a graduate of Journalism and Mass Communication from Indira Gandhi National Open University with another person on alleged charge of arranging medical assistance for members of Manipuri terrorist orgainsation, the People's Liberation Army and its political wing, the Revolutionary People's Front.[65]

Although the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) was allowed to lapse over a decade ago, two of the total 147 persons detained across India under the draconian TADA had been detained in Delhi.[66]

The law enforcement personnel also often mis-used the Official Secrets Act (OSA) despite consistent demands by defence lawyers, politicians, legal experts and even government prosecutors for its urgent amendment.[67] On 4 October 2005, the Tis Hazari Court dropped a case against eight persons under the Official Secrets Act. They were booked 14 years ago on charges of procuring Indian Administrative Service (IAS) examinations question papers from a government press in Ranchi and selling them. According to the judge, the evidence were too flimsy to frame charges against them.[68]